(Guida engages the UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Dodsonaudience in the ancient Native American dance known as the “Iwannanothadrinka.” Photo via Combat Lifestyle.)

We’ve thrown the word “curse” around a lot here at CagePotato in the past year or so (as in “injury curse,” “cursed from birth,” and “curse you Dana for setting this up!”), but featherweight contender Chad Mendes is one of the few fighters who might actually be able to stake a claim to that title. In his past three scheduled fights, all of his original opponents have pulled out due to a last minute injury, leaving Mendes to face off against late replacement opponents on two occasions and cancelling his fight altogether in the third. Then again, any curse that ends in you collecting two quick knockouts and upwards of eighty thousand dollars is a hell of a lot better than the festering boils and dead first born I’ve been stuck with.

Although the booking “isn’t 100% yet,” it’s hard to deny that this fight makes just as much sense as it did previously, if not more. Mendes wiped the floor with Elkins — who was on an impressive five-fight streak of his own — in his last contest, and Guida is on the heels of a featherweight debut victory over the highly-ranked Hatsu Hioki. An impressive victory for either man could put them in a prime position for a shot at Jose Aldo (or in Mendes’ case, another lesson in humility shot).